Microsoft has announced that it will release a new version of its popular on-premise productivity suite later this year, called Office 2019. This is geared towards those business customers who aren't ready to adopt the cloud-based Office 365.

Office 2019 vs. Office 365: What’s the difference?

While Microsoft has stayed relatively quiet about the specifics of what people can expect in the new Office 2019, they have teased a few features.

Many of those features are already offered in Office 365, which has led to some confusion amongst customers: What exactly is the difference between Office 2019 and Office 365?

Here’s the main difference: Office 2019 is a one-time purchase, and you won’t receive any feature updates after you buy it. Of course, you’ll still get standard security and quality updates—but you won’t see any new tools or functionality added. You’ll need to be using Windows 10 as your operating system in order to run Office 2019.

In contrast, Office 355 is a subscription-based service. Unlike Office 2019, Office 365 is powered by Microsoft cloud and thus includes more collaborative and up-to-date features than Microsoft’s perpetual software does.

Microsoft has channeled much of its recent energy and attention into Office 365 in the cloud, however, they also recognized that not everybody was willing and ready to make that switch.

Again, many of the features we can expect from Office 2019 are likely already offered via Office 365. But, this perpetual software update is a good way for users who aren’t ready to move to the cloud to get access to the new tools and functionality.

What’s new: Office 2019 features we’ll likely see

Again, it’s tough to speculate exactly what we should anticipate seeing in the brand new Office 2019, especially when features in preview or beta mode don't always end up in the final product. But, Microsoft has piqued users’ interests by teasing a few interesting features—which we’re breaking down for you below.

Advanced presentation features

While PowerPoint is still one of the most popular and commonly-used presentation solutions available, there are plenty of others who view it as dated—particularly with more tech-savvy options like Prezi available.

In order to stay relevant, Microsoft has announced plans to incorporate more advanced presentation features in Office 2019. These include things like enhanced Morph and Zoom capabilities to help you create a more sophisticated and dynamic presentation.

Those features are already included in Office 365 ProPlus, but are not available to people who are currently operating with Office 2016.

More powerful data analysis

When it comes to data management and analysis, Excel still reigns supreme. Office plans to kick things up a notch in the 2019 version of the software.

Customers should expect even more powerful features, such as new formulas, new charts (like funnel charts and 2D maps), the ability to publish from Excel to Power BI (Microsoft’s own business analytics service), and enhancements for PowerPivot and PowerQuery.

Needless to say, if Excel is your undeniable favorite of the Microsoft Office suite, the anticipated 2019 features will probably have you bursting into your happy dance.

Improved inking features

Those who use Microsoft Surface devices are probably already big fans of the digital pen that allow them to draw, note, and doodle directly onto their device’s screen.

Office 2019 will introduce all new inking capabilities across all apps—such as pressure sensitivity, tilt effects that adjust the ink’s thickness depending on the angle of the pen, and even a roaming pencil case, which allows users to store and organize their favorite pens, pencils, and highlighters to roam with them across their different devices.

Easier email management

Finally, if you’re an Outlook user, the release of Office 2019 shouldn’t leave you out in the cold. Microsoft has teased several new features to take some of the hassle and headaches out of email management.

Microsoft is hopeful that these additions will help users manage their email far more efficiently and effectively.

About Microsoft Office 2019. The latest version is the ninth to be released for Windows since Microsoft unveiled the inaugural software in 1990 and the first version to come out since Office 2016 hit the market in September 2015.

New features of Office 2019

Office 2019 will include new perpetual versions - where the license is purchased outright and effectively has no expiry date - of all the Office apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Skype for Business and server products including Exchange, SharePoint and also Skype for Business.

Beyond the programs we’ve all come to know and expect from Microsoft Office – such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint – the 2019 edition will also include Outlook client applications and server versions of Exchange, SharePoint, and Skype for Business. Some new features of Office 2019 will include:

- Improved and expanded formulas and charts that will make the data analysis capabilities of Excel even more powerful
- “Inking” options like pressure sensitivity, tilt effects, and ink reply, which will allow for users to more naturally make notes and draw on top of documents when using touch- and pen-enabled devices
- Integration of “Morph” and “Zoom” visual animation features (currently only available through Microsoft 365) into PowerPoint
- Enhanced enterprise functionality
- Server updates that will focus on superior IT manageability, usability, voice recognition, and security

About Microsoft. Microsoft is a software corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports, and sells a range of software products and services